The Edison Effect

"The Edison Effect" (1989) by Paul DeMarinis is a series of audio installations consisting of electro-optical devices which play ancient phonograph records with laser beams.

Paul DeMarinis: The Edison Effect

In the sound sculpture The Edison Effect by American sound artist Paul DeMarinis, old gramophone records, wax cylinders and holograms are scanned with lasers to produce faint music. Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), best known as the inventor of the light bulb, was perceived as a charlatan in the scientific community. His discovery of sound recording and invention of the phonograph significantly affected our sense of time. With the phonograph Edison created a mechanical model not for hearing, but for remembering.